Six kitchen appliances that make life easier

Meal preparations and cooking in general are not as basic as they used to be eons ago.

On top of that, most people are strained for time and anything to make the process easier or seamless is most welcomed.

Below are six household items guaranteed to take the stress off your shoulders and leave you with ample time to catch one more episode of your favourite show or play a game with your loved ones before bedtime.

1) Multi-purpose poultry shears

These 8-inch scissors are perfect for cutting raw meat, game, bone and poultry. They are super sharp and strong, making them perfect for tough kitchen jobs such as slicing through tough tendons and chicken bones.

You don't have to create a mess or struggle sharpening knives, having someone to hold pieces for you to cut through and whatnot.

To top it all, they have a section for scraping scales when cleaning your fish. Cracking nuts and two different bottle openers, depending on the bottle cap as well.

Their cost ranges from Sh850 t0 Sh1,650.

2) Speedy vegetable chopper

Say bye-bye to teary eyes from those onion bulbs, arm aches from grinding ginger and garlic, occasionally injuring yourself with the knife, and everything in between, for only Sh1,000 for a manual chopper.

This speedy chopper is revolutionary, a true kitchen gift.

You can have all your ingredients ready in a matter of seconds.

It has a pull cord that gets the blades rotating to either chop, mince, fine or coarse chop. For finely chopped results, you need to pulse longer.

Fret not, it is not only for vegetables. You can use it to make bread/cracker crumbs, chopping nuts for baking or garnishing and making salsa/condiments.

3) Double-sided nano tape

The double-sided tape or magic tape, however you choose to call it, it's fine, as long as you acknowledge it is awesome.

You can use it to hang things you are always forgetting or misplacing in the kitchen. Stick recipes, spatulas, kitchen scissors or notes near your prep space, and so much more.

This goes for only Sh850.

4) Kitchen oil filter

I know you are already beating yourself up as to why you didn't know of this sooner. Relax, that's why I'm here.

It has a funnel for filling bottles, a strainer and a 200 mesh filter.

You can reuse your oil without the struggle of your fries having mandazi pieces or the tiny black particles that remain after deep frying things.

This goes for Sh2,500.

5) Egg boiler

Who is that? Stress? Wrong address. Forget the worry of your eggs being under or overcooked, constantly checking the sufuria in the gas, plus the afterthought of cleaning the sufuria. An egg boiler is basically a tiny steamer.

Each model has a hot plate in its base, you add water to the hot plate, suspend eggs in a tray and cover the entire unit with a lid. This cute egg boiler holds up to seven eggs and costs Sh1,300 to Sh4,000, depending on the make and capacity.

You can get your eggs, be it hard-boiled, poached or fluffy omelettes, without worry as you prepare sandwiches or shower. 

6) Silicone food covers

These stretchy silicone covers are perfect, especially if you're in a hurry. Forget cling fill and foils, those get tears and sometimes run out. They make it hard when unwrapping the meal and so on.

For Sh1,000, you get a pack of six pieces, which come in different colours. They stretch to cover surfaces as big as half a watermelon.

I do hope these items lessen your hectic moments in the kitchen.

Stick around for more hacks and insightful household equipment to help make your moments in the kitchen lighter.